Slow but steady is how Sweetwaters Coffee & Tea became an Ann Arbor favorite

ANN ARBOR – Growing steadily is how Sweetwaters Coffee & Tea went from one store in Ann Arbor to having franchise locations across 12 states.

Co-founder Lisa Bee said that it isn’t a mind-blowing strategy, but that it’s one that has worked.

Both she and her husband, Wei, founded the first location at 123 W. Washington St., in 1993. At the time, the pair were recently graduated from the University of Michigan.

“We came from restaurant backgrounds--our families owned restaurants. Our parents were immigrants, they came here and the typical thing was to open up a Chinese restaurant,” Bee said.

The husband-wife duo didn’t want to own a restaurant after graduation, but they still wanted to be in the hospitality industry.

“I loved the creativity of being able to create and marketing, so we decided to go into the cafe business,” she said, adding that the couple came to Ann Arbor for school, but stayed because of the vibrancy and diversity of Tree Town.

Thirty years ago, the landlords of the corner spot on Washington Street were willing to give the then 20-something-year-olds a chance--something not many landlords were interested in doing, Bee said.

She worked in the spot previously when it was a stained glass studio, and knew the owners. The building itself has a long history and was a hotel, a car dealership, and several other businesses before being transformed into the first Sweetwaters Coffee & Tea--if you look up, you can still see the original ceilings.

Today, the flagship location is celebrating its success with a community party starting at 1 p.m.

The event will have dancing, live music, chalk drawings with a fairyologist, a photo booth, and free samples (while supplies last.)

Bee said it’s the company’s way to give back to the community as a “thank-you” for 30 years of support.

Read: Ann Arbor’s Sweetwaters Coffee & Tea celebrates 30 years of success with community party

The company has grown slowly over the past three decades. Bee said that they wanted to really make sure that franchise locations were secure before expanding.

“We feel a lot of responsibility to our franchisees, but we feel good about our system,” she said. And that’s partly why Sweetwaters is giving away a free franchise agreement this summer.

Adventurous entrepreneurs wanting to get into the cafe business can apply for the giveaway. The winner will receive the franchise agreement, a $10,000 prize package and access to Sweetwaters’ support, including a marketing team, training program materials, and training time in Ann Arbor.

“We’re looking forward to paying it forward because when we were young, we would have loved to have had the resources that we give our franchisees today,” Bee said.

“I love to see the energy of new entrepreneurs, and if there is a way that we can help them, I’d love to be able to pay that forward.”

The drink menu at Sweetwaters has evolved over the years but some core globally-influenced beverages have remained, like the Ginger Lemon Tea and the French Vietnamese Au Lait. The Napali Brew is another tried-and-true favorite.

“Since the beginning, we were always ingredient-focused. We knew we were going to have kids, and we wanted our kids to be part of our business life and be at the cafe--and they were!”

Bee said that she never wanted to worry about what her kids were drinking so it made sense to use high-quality products at the cafe.

“We wanted to make sure that the products that we sell and serve are of the same quality that we would give our own family.”

Bee shared that customers can look forward to quad-sized drinks and a new jade matcha cold brew with lychee syrup--a drink idea that came from her youngest son, who also studies at the University of Michigan.

She said that some of the cafes are piloting adding lychee jellies to drinks, and they’ve been having fun coming up with combinations.

“I don’t know what other business we could be in that is just so much fun!”

Some of Bee’s favorite drinks on the menu are the Strawberry Bliss, the Dreamy Cold Brew and the Mango Fruit tea.

Try them at the Washington Street flagship location, or at any of the seven Sweetwaters Coffee & Tea locations around Ann Arbor.